Definingth:t~lunteer

By WARD HOWER

~ corps is 10~git, SOII1 is by

,Ie of tbe ,,,a s i,~ \vbich Peace

,n;tki,lg :, fetish of .progca,nming. A,l>anl \\zl10goes to h<il\v;lt,kee to eartlhis Ii\,irlg as a tgxi driver is exposedto the d;i,,ger of becorni,~g n racist.A XIlixl>\\.lIo spe,lds too ,ntlch timelooking at pictl]res of ]Iakcd \\,omer]risks :Icldict ion to ,Lllto-eroticis,n. Justso I’e:,ce Corps,. by ri,,eti,lg its atte,,-ti<,,l to the prog~lmllli,]g process, ntldto progra,m criteria, is becolmillg adc,,elc)pmc,lt age,lcy i,lslcnd of :1 \701-I,,lteer Ino\,emcnt. As a de\,elop]llentagency its per forn]n,lce a“d Poter]tial:Ire relatively i,lsignificatlt; as a VOl-lirltcer lllo\,ez>le,]t it might change the\\,orld.

,The Peace Corps, byriveting its attention to theprogramming process, and toprogram criteria, is becominga development agency insteadof a Volunteer movement.’

The ce,~tral zncl saving trt,tb is this:,~,htlt a Vol(,l]teer does is importai!t;btlt it is i,lfirlitely more important thatbe do it as a Volllllteer.

Anecdotal material :I]>d local color,f, ill Ilo\v be supplied for pijrposesof illustration, bllt \vith col>ccrn forbrevity.

‘r~v~[>tylniles or so fxotn the capitnlcity irl otle best colrntry, or> a ~lirtrmld tlear :1 village, is a secondaryschool. Origit) ally established as partof at> A,~glicall mission, the school is,Io\!, go\.ernment aided and controlled.I.ike most of tho 50-odd seco)ldnryschools ill the cout, try, it is beautifldlysitecl, solidly constrllctecl, and impre5-si~,ely eclt)ipped. It is a boardingschool. AltboL,gb close to the c~pitali,> tniles, it feels re,note atlcl isolated,and is Ilot i,, fact p?rt of tbe ~lrbanColllp]ex. The social a,)d econotl~icg~llf b,ct\$>ee,)the school a“d the st,r.rol, ncb,lg farms and villages seems \,n-bridgeoble, as it \\,asindcecl interlcledto be by the former colonialists. Theyfo~,t,ded a system of secondary schoolsprecisely in order to n~!rtllre in a

2

speei:ll sl,b-culture cut off from thelife around them, a class of civil ser\,-ants a,>cl ndmi?listrators \!zho \\,ould:tdopt colonial standards and sexvecolonial i“tercsts.

To this setting, nearly three yearsagO, catne R. K,, a Peace Corps Volt,”.teer pri\,t\tely prepped in the States,possessed ,of 3 braid tle)v la\v degreefro,n Pril]ceton, to teach English. Acomfortable :L,ld rexsotlably satisfyingrole a\\,aited‘him. He \\,assoon madehead of the Etlglish dep?rtmellt. Hispl,pi]s \\>ere bright :ITICI eager, hiscktsses interesting and f,dl of chal-Ictlge. He k!)e,v soccer, and \vas de-lighted to fil>cl that his school bad nlong traditiotl of excellence ill thatsport. Assigt)ed to staff hot,sillg onthe con~po~),ld, be four>d that this i!>-chlded ctlntlia?g ft, rnitl,re, a fireplaceto dri\,e :I\\,aytbe occasional chill a,lddamp, a hot!sehoy to see that \\r~od\\,xscarried :IIld properly k,id and toser,>e his tea. EIis Ii\,i,lg allo\va,lce,,,:,s ,Ilore tball s~,fficie)lt to take c:ireof bis neecls a!l(l pro\.ide for extraordi-,I:iry creatltre conlfort. If be admi]lis-

tered his department \vith skill andfinesse, taught \vell, added his bit tothe soccer tradition,], assumed someextra responsibility as dorm masterar>d halldcd ot]t alloxvances on Satur-day momit~gs, he \vould fit in per-fectfy, doing exactly \<,bat \vas ex-pected of hitn by Peace COTS ancl theMi,]istiy of Education, spend a lovelyt,vo ye.~rs, and go borne \vith honor,havi,)g done his bit for peace andfriendship.

Wher] he does co]ne home, R.K.,vill have quite a bit more to sho\vfor bis years \vith Peace Corps. Hissoccer proteges have not only doalewell i“ competition \vith teams fromother secondary schools; they ha\,etaught the game to youngsters fromthe farms and villages \vbo \von’t goto secondary schools. They and otherst~,de,lts ha\,e started a school garden\vhich s~lpplies’ a l:irge portion of tbefood “ceded o“ the compotr,)d, They,,,ork i,, the garde,]s ,vitb their o,,,,,ba,>ds. So does R.K. They ha\>ealsocarried their o\vn bord-\von gnrclcrl-i!lg expertise itlto the cot,lltry side,helping farmers to gro\v ne\v anclbetter crops for family tlse and forcnsh. With their o,,,n hands theyha,,e h“ilt a “e,v \ving to the sttldents’dorm. They have skirted ndtdt liter-acy classes. They have begun a tra-dition of holiday \vork projects spon-sored by the school featllring, forope,,ers, n cattle spraying and dipstatiotl, b~ailt and staffed by students,These nnd other activities are mnni-festxtiorls of a coherent philosophy:,hot,t ,,,hat secondary edt,cation cnnbec”me i,, s{,ch a col]”try, R.K. takeslittle credit for ,,,hat is bei]]g don>e i“his school, sayi,]g that he has notre:dly been i“ the fore fro,lt, Theheadtnaster \\.as \villit]g and eager.So \\,cre the st~adents. Host ]latio,lalteachers, a,ld eve,> so,ne of the CX.patri;ate staff, ha,,e pitched in. rhttli.K. \,,Is there, IIe helped, AI~cl heknebv \vbxt he \t,as doing.

R. K., \vho had tho{tght he \,o{dd bea Ia,vyer, no,,, i“tc,lds to do his hit forlife in secondary eclt, cation. He is,,,orki”g o,, a sort of “head start”English sylkiblis for a special six-\!,eek

‘As a development agencyits performance and potentialare relatively insignificant;as a Volunteer movement itmight change the world.’

PAGE

2 Defining the

Volunteer ethic

by Ward Hewer

A staff member asks, ,,What

direction, Peace Corps?—devel.

opment agency or Volunteer

movement ?,,

6 Malaysia

Nine past and present Vol””-

teers present this photographic

collage of their culturally-mixedhost country,

16 Anatomy of a Peace

Corps failure

by Dale Deason

In a retrospective look at his

project—teacher training in the

Dominican Republic—a former

Volunteer spells out the difficul-

ties of making concepts work.

Publishedmonthlyby ,he oili<, .(Vol”n,ee, S“ppo.t, Peacecorps,

Washington,U. C, 20525

Pa, B,own, @dl,or;j“dy Thelen, .s,..; ,,,e<fi!.r; TrishWor,hen, ediforlalassijtan,.Desi8nby Paul Reed.

Co,resPondc”t,: BOLIVIA: Kevin Lynch.BRAZIL S,,,,. Tothcroh, Gav Duncan.BRITISH HONDUMS: Lo. Ha”ku. CAM.EROON: France;Carroll. CEY1ON: Eliza.beth H.w,,. CHAD: )ay Boekelhcide,Tom Mann. CHILE: Cb, rlc, S,,,i,h jr.COLOMBIA: C. C“wan Geisle,. COSTARICA: ko~er Hornil,o”, DOMINICANREPuBLIC: )c>.a!han Lash, Bill Whit..EASTERN CARIBBEAN: William Carte,,Thomas APP,I. fCUAOOR: char!.,Creesy, EL SALVADOR: K,. Flo”,ield.ETH1OPIA: S“,,” Heck, Fill: Dav!dDowries. GHANA: A, b~lliam Hunsickcr.GUATEMAM: Ma,ilY. fa,ley, HON.OURAS:M;ke McKinr>ey. INDIA: Richard~y;~llia,~jN: Jona!hon LipSky, Charles

Michael Sarka, IVORYCOAST:Wlli. m R. Carpenler, KENYA:lame, Ku,hner. KOREA:&lark B,.,...LESOTHO:S,eph.n Lehman”.MAMY5,A:Sh$r”n Clarke. MICRONESIA: f,edKl”8e. MOROCCO: l.mbert Bok,,n,R“berla Pree5 NEPAL: )onalh. nF,>,. NICER: R,,,,y )o,Bc”,,.. PARA.GUAY:D“r,>,l,yGraham,JO, McGove,n.SOMALIA:Terq Dek,tsch. THAILANO:8ob 11,rch,rck, Robert Ca,n,y. TOGO:W!li,m E“>”,,,, D,>”sI.s S1<,,”,. TUR.KEY SlePhen Franklin. UPPERVOLTA:Bob Sin81,y,VENEZUEM: EdwardTh;ele,

ON THE COVER:M.l,Y5ia. mo,hc, and.hild, by PaulConkIi!,.

transition period to help bridge thegap from elementary school, \t,hichis tat,ght i,, the local langtlage, to theEnglish reqx]ired for scco,ldary schools.

D.B. li\,es and ,vorks at a settle.nle,lt ill the same col,r]try about 45,]lillt~tes ottt “f the capital. His fntheris a dni~ far,ner in hTe\vYork State,b{tt D,]]. is IIO ngro,,o,>list. The settle-]Ilc,lt htis 193 families, recrl, ited fro]n\,;trious tribes nt]d regions in thecoclt]try, sonjc fro,l> the streets of thecapita!. It also has abo,lt 350 acresof c“co,]llts, 500 acres of cashe,,,s, 150dairy co\,,s, and a he” hotlse ftdl ofbeat, tiftd White Leghorn layers, D.B,Ii,,es ir, a m,tcl ar)d \vattle hotlse,There is no fireplnce, I1O n,n”i,,g

\\,atcr, ,,0 fridge. There is n squattoilet it] the bzckyard,

A4tiI,y of the cot]!] try’s hopes forthe ft,t,~re ride ,I,ith this settlement,arid a score of others tnore or less likeit. Here the peasant people are toIe:tr), to extetld the prit,ciplcs of thetraditi”t,al f:l,~]ily life to a broader\,ersi”s, of c“oper:ltive Ii,,i”g. Prop-erty is held i“ cbmmo”. Everybodyt\,orks. E\,eryo,>e’s basic ]leeds are~lred for, There \\,illbe steady progress fro)n s~d]sistet>ce farmi8,g to pro.dt,ctio,> f“r export, .fro,n the boe tothe ox-dra,v,> p]”.v to the tractor. Vol.tltltcers, mostly ge,]era!ists, are as-signed to these settle,nellts, Somerttdimct)tary agric)~lt~tral a“d book-

3

keeping skills are crat>kecl itl throllgbtfilini,~g, bitt they arc there mostly tohelp ottt i,> ally \,zay they can>,\~,itboltta clearly de fi,lecl job role or relntiO,l-ship to the adn]i,]istrati\,e strttch,re.

ATe\,crthelcss, D.]]. has had a fasci-al:lti,~g tltld I]rodtlctive experience as:) settle,nerlt Voh,,~teer, First he tookcharge of the books, creatin~ orderat,d coIIfideIIce. The scttle,,]etlt fall3i-Iies ktlo\v bo\\zaIId \\zbyrecords arekept. D.B, spe,~ds a s!tbsta,)tinl ht,tdi,l>i,lisbi,lg portio,l of his time irl theoffice. Hc is trainit]g host t>atiorlalclerks to keep tbc hooks. He fot,t~dthat the ct,rrent accotl]lts 0,1 the dairyherd sbo\,,ed n profit, bt,t that there,t,ere se,.ere losses in the capital ac-co,,r>ts attriblltable to a 20 per centn)I11,8:Ildeath rate of mattlre proch,cers.D.13. tllnde persistc,lt efforts to red~,cethe :tttritio,l thro~lgh, spraying a,lddippirlg, Firl:dly he co,lclt,decl thatthe c.lttle—they nrc mixed Etlropenl]types, mostly C~tertlseys a,l~l Holstei,~s—arc ,lot s~tit.lhle for the hot, b~lmidm)ld i,lsect-i”festecl coastal regio,l. I-fisree<,mme,,d:ttiorl that the herd be,,?o,,cd lq-collntry ZIICIreplaced \vitbAfrictt!l types \\,:lsgreeted x\,ith pxl]icit, the achninist~lti”e hierarchy, ,vhichfeared that the f:lr,,~ers \voIdcl leavetbc settleanellt cve!l or> rlllllors thntthe ,l,ilk co\\>s\\,creto he moved a,,,ny.D.11. set to ~\,ork, patietltly nnd care-ft,lly, to edtlcate the farmers to thereal ,]at(,re of the problenl, \vith theobjecti\,c of gerlerati,lg among thetnn ,,>o~,ctllellt to petitio]l the Atinistryto replace the stock x\,itb betterbreeds, h{ea,,,,,hile, the settlementco,nmittce had been hrotlght, chieflytbrot,gb D.B.’s stpady prodclit>g, topctitio,, the h4inistry for n~or~ey toestablish s{d~stantial egg prodtlction.Upon lear,,i]lg that the h4i]listry pro-posed tu aclvat]ce capital for cOnstrllc-tiotl of a fnt~cy brick herl hotlse at ac,.,st of $2,000, he clesigt~ed a per-fectly adeqtlate strl,ctllre, \\,itb dirtfloor, mtld a,ld ~,.attle col]strtlction,,,.ire screct, it,g ar]d sheet metal roof,,,,hich the settlers bllilt themselves ata cost of Icss tb>lal $400. It is ftlllof healthy layers. The eggs sell inthe capita] for ahot]t 50 cents a dozen,x,,d the project makes mor~cy for the

,What a Volunteer does is

important; but it is

infinitely more important that

he do it as a Volunteer.’

settlement, after pro~,isioll for nmOr-tP~ntio]~ of the capital ad\,anced.

Of coc,rse D.B.’s L,se of the localIarlgttxge is fluent a,ld colloquial. Thesettlemc,lt secretary drelv rne asicle toIat,ish praise 0,1 him. I{7hen 1 repliedth:it this \\,as ]lice to hear, he seized~,~yarr~l, a,~d said \vith some ttrgel~cythat I dicln’t ~,,ldersta,~d; be h~dk,,o\t,,, olld liked se~.eral \701,tnteers,bl,t this otle, he ,,,anted me to kt~o\\,,,V:LS rc:dly special.

As D.11.’s period of service dre\v toa close, the settlemet~t colnlnittec metse,,efid ti,nes to dr:,ft a chlmsy htltcloqtle[>t plea to the hli,~ istry th;tt bebe reqt~ested to st;,y a,,other year.The N1i,listry, after some delay, ad-,,iscd th:tt D.]], cot,,ld ]]ot stay, huttb:tt he \\,oldd be repklced hy a host]Iatio,l.11 \,eteri,l:iria,l.

~~either 11.K. nor D.B. is a sl,per\7”lt,,, tee,. The star, cklrds they ba~reset for themsel,,es and ]Ilet are notrare i,> this partictdar col,ntry, or illPence Corps, They coldd be coBl-trasted, of cot,rse, ~~,itb Iroh,,lteersIikc J. F., \\,bo also teacbcs il] a sec-olld:iry school. It is located in a gOOcl-sizecl to\,,n. The shlde,lts don’t hw.,rd,a,, d there is 1,0 staff hottsing o!) thecot>lpot,t)d J.F. has :1 nice hol>se illto\t,),, tbotlgh, \\,here he li\,es aloneexcept for the Pl[Jybo!I pi,~,lps \t4,icbco\,er the ceili,lg of his Ii\,i,lg rool~~./\t,10{,,1 o!~ ,, StiI~dIy, he \i,:Is gr[tmpilyd<~illg “his o\vII hre.tk fast clishcs, thisbeit>g the boltseboy’s d>Iy off. TheSCI1OOIhas a sardetl, btlt J.F. doest,’t,,,ork ill it. He does,~’t k,lo\v ho\v,XIICIbesides, ,lobody expects qt,alifiedteachers to CIOthis ki[lcl of \\,ork.

J.F. h:id a bt,rd time getting started,pri,lcipally bccatlsc tbe Peace Corpshach,’t ta,,gbt bi]n ho\v to teach. He’sdoi,lg okay ,lo\v, tbo~,gh, ntld hzslear,]ed that teaching ist,’t really veryhard, once you get the bang of it.For recrcatiol~, he tools arouncl the

coll,ltryside on his very o\vn Ho”da-,,ot Peace Corps’; he bolnsht it \\,ith,>)”),ey stt,,ed from his li\,ing allO\\,-:,t]ce. ffe is ,,ery tt,ell tbo~lght uf atthe local gcdf cllth, \\,here be e,ljoysf~dl ,nembcrsbip and \\,bere, later onthe same Sttnday afternoon, the onlyblack face \,isiblc at the ch,hhot!se\tzas behind the bar. Nxtl,rally, hesees !1O ]~eed to Ifilrn the local lan-gt]nge. After all, the reaso,l they \x,antexpatri:ltes to tencb irl the secondaryschools is so the sttldel>ts c:tn lear]lgood. English.

4

,A Volunteer’s program

doesn’t seem to have much to

do with whether he is a good

Volunteer or not.,

170iu,>teers like R,K. a,,d D.B. cnn,dso be eo,ltrasted, thot,gh less sharply,,r,ith othe,- fnirly com,no], types, Forexa,nplc there is J,A4,, a], architect byprofession, ,tbo tdso accepted PeaceCorps’ it,”itatiotl to tr>li,, for !vork i,~,,ilk,ge settlcmcz, ts. He ,vnz assignedto :1 r>e\\,developme,>t speciadizi,lg illtolxtcco. J.h4. dich,’t kr,u\\,,n,tch nbo~tttobacc”, bt!t be said l)e bad ,,0 tvotrhle]?icki,]g ~q, all he ,,eedecl from rcadil,gt\\,oor tbrce parnpblcts. It trol, bledhim that there \\,:ls,10 clearly definecljob at the settle],,e,,t, a,>d ]Io strttctt,,eto \vhich he coldd relate, “up ordo\\zn.” Iie gc,essecl thnt he \tras sLtp-posed t“ ses,e as t, sort of Iiaiso” be-t\\,eell the ln:tnagcr atld the settlers.Hc st.lrtecl a garden, \\,hicb \\zassuc-cessfld Lilt tlot ilnitxted. 0,> a typicalclay, he dropped into the office for10 to 1.5 mit,tttes to see if the ma,~agerbxcl atly spc?ial chores for him, :Inclthcr~ spct)t ti,,le “jl,st talkit~g \vitb thef:lr,ners.” It, his spare time, be hikeda lot, \,,e,~t off i,]to the bllsb tlncl read,etljoycd cooki]~g. Hc said that thescttlet,le,~t Ix,d ,n:tdc 110 disccr,jihleprogress to,,,ard the gc,>tlirlcly cooper-ati,,e Orga,,izatio,, ,,,hicb is G,le of itsg.alsj ,There is :, ,I,nrket for t“llacc”,:IIld ,t ]s n fillm,lci.11s,!ccess.

S.hf iS Ilot a sollr \70b~”teer. Hes:~ys be got exactly ,,,h:it be \t,x,,tedfrol>~ Peace Corps: n real cbatlge, acha,lce t“ li,~e i,, the 1), ]s11nlld Ielr,lnbot,t a stfitnge cot]]ltry arlcl ct]lttlre,ti[nc to thi,lk. Ile likes the cot,ntrya,ld the people.

Exa,nples col)ld be ,~~[lltiplied. Thecoltlltry 113s n>at~y Pence Corps prO-gral,>s, differi,~g \~,idc!y itl methods;tt)d goals, aa)d in the ,\,ork perform-:,IICC and life style expectecl ofVol~~,>teers, 1,, each call be fotlnd a

sprillkli!~g of tremetldo~,s vOh, ”teers,nlong \vith mal]y good ol~es, so]nei,ldiffere,,t, a“d n fe\,. b:,cl-in :Ibotttthe %Itlle pruport ions.

U,tt let’s tlail do\s,n the poiilt. Thep“i,lt is thtlt a VOhltltcer’s programdoesrl’t secrn to h:s\>ernucb to do ~\,ith,,.hether be is n goo[l \701(,,lteer orIlot. A)>d this poi?]t, if \,alid, Ille.lnstblt Pence Corps, i,, \Vaslli]lSto,l .lICIi,, tbc field, is dcvotitlg most of itst;tle,]t, energy a,]d creati\2ity to :Iskitlgthe \\zroI1gqltestiolls.

1 ~votdd nrglie that a Vo]u]ltecrdoi,lg soil surx,cys, \x,ithout a cox,nter-part, ;Iot trai,~ing a host national tocarry o)) his \t,ork, sttpcn, ised hy atldrcporti,]g to a third col,ntry national,cr{, ising the cotlntryside in a LzndRo\,er in part[~ership \\,ith anotherIi”]t,,,tee,, ,>ot really exposed i. his\vork sittl;ltio,> to the host people or

ctdtt!re, can ne\,ertheless be a goodVohl,]tcer :I,>d ha,,e a great expcri-

c,lce. The s2ame coLdd hc s:iid of aresearch scie,, tist locked a~vny i,l aI:lhoratory eight hi>,lrs a day, or a,>t,rsi,,g aide it, a hospital or a janitor,or n seco],dary school te.lcher Ii,,illg

oI1 xi co3np0111>d, or a gexlernlist ns-sig,lecl to a t>e\\, agric{,lttlral settle-,,>c,, t,

1 ,IzoIdcl argtle that it is better forthe host cot,n try, for the Ur]ited States,f<,r pc,ce a)]d friendship a,>d for the\\,Orhlt“ h8]\,ea good Voll,llteer doi,lgat, v ioh ;,t all tl>at~ to have a bad ol-i,]diffcre,]t V“h,r>teer nssigned to the,llost rcle\,:tnt, strt,ctt, red, need- fillillg:,,,c1 II;,tio,,-l],,ilcling \\20rk that is tobe do,)e there.

Fiil;,lly, 1 ,t,otdd srgtle that a goodVoltl,ltecr is, q,tite simply, a bearerof the Vol(trlteer ethic.

H:l,,i,,g established these poi,lts toe\,cryotlc’s s:,tisfactiot~ ( that is, hy theev,d of the third voh,mc), 1 \~,ottlds,,ggest that the propel- St,ldy of thePe:tce Corps is che Vohlnteer. If \701-,),]tccrs i), some cO,l,l tries are cOn-f{,sed, t,,,prod~,ctix,e, a,~d ~tn]happy. isit ,vise to look at their progr:>tlls, first,litst, aa>d ah\,ays, for explanations andcl,rcs? 1s it \\,ise to assi, me, \t,ithot,treall~, pt]tti,,g it to the test, thnt VOl-Il,lte;rs \\,ilI be acceptecl itl foreignl:)rlds OI]ly to the exte,lt that theyestablish their credibility as econolnicde,,clopers? Js it pro\,ed, ii, this thirdclec:tde after the collapse of Nazi Cer-LnaIIy, tht,t the capacity to prod~lcegoods is the key to a goocl society?Js it possible that ]nore of IIS sho[ddbe collccr,led, ,>]ore of the time, \t,ithefforts to defi,le the Vo]”nteer ethic, toicle,]tify its benrers, to sl,staitl theirpl,rpnses thro~lgh trair)i,lg nrld in sen,-ice, to prcse,~t them abroad ho,lestly,for ,,,hat they are?

,If Volunteers . . . are

confused, unproductive, and

unhappy, is it wise to look at

their programs, first, last

and always, for explanations

and cures?’

Does the Preamble to the PenceCorps Act really state three Goals(most likely i~] order of dimi,,ishingimportaa,ce) ,,,hich define and limit,,,hat ,,,e ore atltborized to attempt?Of cot~rse it does,] ’t. It begi],s, “TheCo,]gress of the U]lited St:ites declaresthlt it is the policy of the UnitedStates ([l~d the pttrpose of tbi.$ Act topru,>lote ,,,odd peace a“cl frierldshipthrot,gh a Pence Corps .“ ( E,npba-sis added),

1s the e\,al,lati”” of a Peace Corpsacti,,ity r>~ore],early like:

A. Afeasxiri!>g the cost-e ffectit,et]essof adding \,itnmirl sl,ppleme,lts to thediet of a Hock of Iayil,g hens, or

ft. Jt,dgi]>g the !,,orth of a ,>e,v play,p,ir,ting, or sympho,,y?

The forlmer c8” be Ineast! red; theI,,ttcr c.,,,,,”t, A ,VO,k of art Cannotfirlally be judgecl except in terms ofthe dt,ratio” a“d i,,te”sity of httma”reacti o,) t“ it. Ne,,ertheless there isstlch a .thi”g as the profession ofdrnm.1, .lrt or ml,sic critic; m]lcl thereare people ,,,I1o mc,st decide !!,hetheror tlot to prodtice a ploy, b“y n p:li8>t-i,,~, or perform a synq~ho,]y. Checklists arid rneast,ren]ent de,,ices, hojv-e\,er sophisticated, are rarely t!sed forthese ptlrposcs.

Jt is possible to argt,e th:]t Pe.lceCorps is both a develop,l]e,lt nge,lcyx!lc1 a Voh]nteer movelncr~t. As a cle-,,cl”p,,,et,t age,>cy, it is a little like theflock of layers: so,]le ki,,cJs of irq~utn,]d o,, tp,, t c.1,1 be ,]~e.~s,,red. As a\7”l~11,teerm“ve,ller~t, Peace COrJls isIikc a \.ork of art: its L,nh,c deper,clslq]o,l ht,,na,> ~exction, o,,er time, tothat \\,hich is llniqlle shout vohlntar-

ism. The i,, \,estmei)t of the Voh, r)teer,like th:it “f the artist, is jt,stified bythe IIecessity to cotn,ntlnicate sotme-thi,lg to n,>other lltlmar~ hei,lg, a“d hyfaith that con,.~t,nicatio,> is possible.E\.;dl,atiol]. oll~ht to be primarily con-cer,~ecl, os a critic is \x,ith art, i,l shap-i,,g an]d directi,,g this nspect of PesceCorps.

h~eady all \70h,,,tecrs, a“d all of thebest onles, are more co,lcer,~ecl \t,ithco,ll,l]t,l,icatio]~ thatl \t.ith eggs.

Jt is :, tr~tis,l] thnt the right a,>s,versco,lle only it] response to the rightq{,cstio]]s. Eve,l no\,,, it seems \t.orth-,t,hile to keep tryi,]g to ask the rightcp]estio,,s, It n>ay ,,ot hc too late toco,]sidcr ,vhat is t,r,iq~,e aho~,t the ‘actof ,,ol,,, r,teerir, g,

If \\.e \t.ere askit]g the right q,,es-tio!ls, \\,e\,,otddn’t have trottibled otlr-seh,es iII q,, ite the \IJ:I.y\\,eha~,e O\,er

5

‘The investment of the

Volunteer, like that of the

artist, is justified by the

necessity to communicate

something to another human

being.’

the iss,le of compot*,ld li,,i,lg. It is,l’t]Ieccssary to tnlk abotlt the hair shirtPeace CoqIs to a Voh],,teer like R. K.,e\,etl if hc does Ii,,e ,~.ell; a,,<I it isll,tttseful to talk abo~tt it to a Vohl,,teer\\,hO\,,o~dcl Hottl>der it> any conceiv-able progxtm, If jve ,,.cre ciear i,] ourthi],kir]g as to t,,hxt ,,oh,,,txrist,, isreally :Iboltt, ,,,G \\,oL~Jdn’the calcLl-Iatirlg the time ,t.her, a host co~,”try\\,ill ,,0 lo]lgcr need Pence, Corps VOl-tl,lteers t“ teach i,, its sec”)ldarysch”ols; ,,,e ,,,o,IIcI be thil]ki”g ofse,]di{>g Vohlt, tecrs to those sch”ols asIOl,g as the Colll,try ,,,ill accept them,:t,,d prep:tri,lg for the time ,,,he,, solneq,a:ll ified host IIati”,l;,l teachers car)be spared to tenth i,, o~,r o,,,,) highscho”ls.

1,> aa,y case, there is reasoz> for con-fide,>ce i,, the f{,t~,re of the Vol~,”teerrno,,emel]t, ,t,bethev or ]I”t it is pacedby this agc,>cy. One \vho x,olt,,lteers–r~”t to sat,e so{ds or to sell an ideologyo,- t“ seek imrnolati”,,, b~,t to promotepmlce A,>c1fric,,dsbip-a firms a ,]e,vethic. His xct is the ,]ecessary ct,lmi-,Inti”,l of a seq,,te,jce of thot, ghts orfeelir]gs ,!,hich is hec””]i,,g less andless tl,lco,n,]lo]l, Jt has se,,eral co,n.potle,lts: ,,,c \,alt,e rnateri:d thi,,gs toohighly; ,,,e arc ,]ot s,tficierltly asha,]led“f hyp”crisy; processes .lre ,nore im-port;,[lt t1,3*1 Ohjecti,,es (the ]Ileansillstify the et,d! ); o“e is ,,ot ftdlyh,nr>la,, t~,,til he :Icts, directly, com-lxtssiol]ately, a)ld i,> S“me sc,,se sacri-fici:!lly, i,, response to ht,,na,, IIeed,This is a pnrt of ,,,hzt y“t,a,g peopleare tryi,lg to tell IIS. Voht,ttfirism isrelc\,a,, t to this ethic. Pence CoqJs car)be, Those ,,,h” :)d,,anlce it ha,,e theirre,,,ard, an>d they ,,,ill be f“llo,,,ed.

MalaysiaChildren sbvimming ir> the river. Iohore, West Malaysia –/oh” 7imbl;.

. .....

Chinese men ,vorki”g at a forgein K,,ala LL,mp. r- IC,h” Timl>l;”

An assembly of diverse cultures makes a

collage of Malaysia. The Asian nation isa coexistence of many peoples, among themthe Malays, Chinese, Indians and smallerindigenous groups such as Ibans, Kenyans,Kayans and Kada2ans. Politically, Malaysia isthe union of peninsular Malaya and theBorneo states of Sabah and Sara\vak. Thecountry’s eastern and western areas are dividedby the South China Sea. Separate pieces ofthis national collage—a cross section of Asianlife–are presented here through pllotographshy Volunteers who have served in Malaysia.

Tamil In<lia” girlin johore _\”h,, T;mb!;”

7

It,an Iongho.se in St]rawak, East Malaysi:, —Ilo.,a,d Koons

8.-

.

Man and wife at harvest time in Kclantan, Wesl Malaysia –C.C,,RC Sa”dc,s

F,”it sti,,,d in Kuala L.”IDLIC_!”h. T;mb!;,,

11

Trish.b. drivers carrying b...er$12 in a Chinese f.nor:!l i“ j,>hore _/”h. T;mh/in

Chinese templeto goddess of mercyin Pens.g, West Malaysia_Sha,on Cla,ke

Kenya. woman, Sarawak –11”%.a,d Koons

14

ABOUT OUR CONTRIBUTORS:

–John Timblin taught i“d”strialarts for three years in Johore, WestMalaysia.—Howard Koons tal,ght high schoolscience in Negre Sembilan, WestMalaysia.—Don Sutherland teaches math andscience in Sarawak, East Malaysia.–Charles Donahue worked as a T13Volunteer in a chest clinic in Treng-ganu, West Malaysia.–George Sanders taught high schoolscience in Kela!l tan, West Malaysia.–John Day taught courses in radioand television at the technical collegein Kuala Lunlpur, the capital ofMalaysia.—Charles Miley isworki”gw, itha rlewptinlary syllabus in Sarawak, EastMalaysia.—Sharon Clarke, correspondent forJHE VOLUhj JEER, is a TB Volunteer ata chest clinic in Johorc, West Malaysia,—Ron Brandt is a TB Volunteer in ahospital chcstcli”ic in Malacca, WestMalavsia.

Malays at prayeri” a Malacca mosque, West Malay sia_R”” O,a.dl

Sidewalk palm reader in Pe”ang –Shj,””cla,ke

By DALE DEASON

Anato mv of

lll,JLIIV:y ,I,p..ce C“rpsst.rted.,” 111- r\,,ce co{irse for rl]ra I pri-

,,,;iry schoolteachers ir] the Do,llinlicanRep{~l]lic, Its p,,rpose ,,,as to gik,e nhigh school ed[tcatio,l to the l,xrgexlll,,lber of Domi,~ic.t,, rt,ral teachers,t,ho hncl o,>ly a,, eighth gracle edttca-tionl or less. The origit]nl Peace CorpsConnnlit,ne,lt in\>Oh,ed 29 Volt,x,teersa“d o“e st:lff menxber, The \701u11-teers kt”ght ill tr:tii,,ir,g ce,lters i,] fil,ernedit,,n-sizccl to,t,lls to ,,,hich thete;xchccs tr~i,,elecl d~~ri~,g the st~,,ltner:t!]d C.ICI>S:ltt,rcl:ty ch,rir,g the schoolyear to atte,lcl classes, The ct,rric~,lltllli,lcltrclecl t,, ost of the stal,d;lrcl Dolni,li-carl high school S,tbjects i,) aclclitiorlto ir,teOlsi\.ei,,strl,ctio,l in ed,,y.ltio,lal,~]ethods. The methods co,nrses ,,zerefollu\\,ed lq) by the l?oht,~teers “,tith,,isits to the teachers’ scho”ls dttri,lg

a Peace’Corps the \\,eek. After three yetIrs of thesecot]rses :t,>d clt,ssrou,n visits, the te;lch-crs \\,ere to recci,,e :x certificate, n

failurestl:l~},raise, a,lcl all ol>j>OrtLlr,ity to[Il,al;fy by exa]ni”atio,, f~. ft,ll ,>o;.,llalschool gr:xcl{,ate stnttls.

Dttri,)g the first t,s,o ye:trs, the sizeof the pr<,gr:,t,l incre:tisecl drallltltically.1,, Jllly, 1967 a gr”,np of 3.5 [Joh,,,teerszrrived i,, the D“,,li,]ical, I{epk,blicto staff six a>e,v t~-ait>i,,g cc,, ters. 1,)JIIIY, 1968 still .Ilothe[ gr”tIP arri,,eclto repklce those Iea,,i”g ar,d to stofff“t~r ;Idditio”al ce,>ters. This brot,ghtthe ,Bt,n)bcr of ce,lters to Fiftce,l. Atthis point, znore thar] 80 \JollIr,-tccrs, o,er h:,lf of the e,,tirc PetticeCorps co,,ti,,ge,]t i,, the D“mir,ict],,

Rolle, skat;ng.i“ 5an10 Domingo

P“chi

The people of the Dominican Republic shown here were photo-graphed by John Terence Turner during h;s Peace Corps serv;ce. Jurner,a for,nler correspondent {or THE VOLUNTEER, worked ;n a tubercl:losisprogram ;n El;as P;fia. H;s photographs of Vo/u!l(eers and Donl;n;cansprev;olfsly ha~,e appeared ;n THE VOLUNTEER and ;n Peace Corps re-

cru;[ing brochcjres. Several of (he PI1OIOS presente<l here \vere part of

a recent exhib;t at Peace Corps headqt!arters.

16

Repttblic, \t.ere i]lvolved ill tcacbinga,,d super\, isi,lg some 950 rtlrnlteachers.

A sctr,t fo~]r months later the fotlr,le\,,cst ce,lters hat! been closed, abo~tt20 Vol~,,,teers hacl rett,r”ed to theU,litecl States, relatio,ls \t.ith theDo,ni,l ican go\.ertlmcrlt had beenstrni,lecl, aI1d the \\*holeteacher traill-irlg prosrnLn \\,as bei,lg ph:lscd ot!t.These cl~,,,)ntic chx,,ges ,,,ere r,ot therestllt of n,,y clecision or action bythe Dot>)i!licatl go\,err>t>]e]lt. They,,,ere Peace Corps ,Iloves \,,hich the\r0h3tlteers tbemsel\cs i]litiated.

There is no e\,etlt or series of e,,e,~ts,,,hicb ,,,ill cxpla it, this st,clde,> de-,,elopme,, t. The cxplar]atio,, lies,rather, ill all e,,oh,tionl of Peace Corps\T”lt,n,teer attit,, des \\,hich fi,~allyreachecl cld, ni,]mtion. It is these atti -tt,cles a,>d the concepts behi,lcl them,com,l)o,, thro”gho~,t the Peace Corps,,,,bicl, ,I>ost cleser,,e study.

These co,,cepts are the \,:iri”L,s i,).tellectlj;tl for,nttl:]tio,,s ,vhich are {tseclto dc,,el”p, opev~lte, ;ITICI,noti\,ate thet,,ork of the ?e.,ce CoqIs. They ft~,lc.tin,, at ,,ariot,s Ie”els. Directors, pro.griltl;]ners, a,,cl e,,:ll,,ators obvio{islyholcl a,ld ,,se s{~ch cot,cepts i,, their,,,ork. \r”l,~,]teers a,>d staff membersit> the field also ,tse these co,lcepts,They t,se thc,n to organize, ,noti,, ate,:~tlcl jt, stify their \.ork. 1 \\,ot,ld liketo exami,]e the corlcepts \\,hich op-er:ltccl in the Do”lir,ica,, Rep~,blicteacher t~tit>i,]g progr;;m, p;irtict,]arlythose of the Vol~,,,teers :,,,cI st:,ff. The

i,ladeqt!xcy of these concepts explainsO“F faih, rc better than any otherfactor.

The teacher trni,,i”g program str”g.glecl for hvo a,ld a half years !$,iththe persistet,t prohle,n of i“adequatcDomir>ica” interest and pxrticipatio”.It ,,,as ar> Americar~ program and ,t.eall k,~e,,, it. All of the zno”ey \,,aspro\,idecl by the Age,lcy for Il]ter.,Iatiolial De,,elopment. The day-to-clny bi, si,less of the program \\,asha,l.CRCCIby Peace Coq~s staff melnbers,fro,,> the Peace Corps office. On largerCltlestio,)s, Ilo,ni”icall acquiesce,]ce toPeace C“q,s clesircs Ivas s“tlght a“dobtai,lecl. Ill the ficlcl the Vol~lnteersclesig,led 8T>c1it,,pleme,ltecl cl,rricula\\,ithotat Do,]linicall participation orrcvie\t.. It ,,,ns ;,rou,ld this situatiot,that a debate s,,,irlecl a“d the ,,ario~,sconcepts ,vere bro~tght ir]to play, Fromthe cl:,y th;,t the Pence Corps forceclthe ope,]ing of the teacher trai!li,,gcer~ters to the dmy th~t it forcecl theirclosi,lg, the issc~e of Domit~icxn par-ticip:ltio,l ,t,as clo,,]innr~t a,lcl ahlloste\.eryotle took a sta”cl,

Ot]e car) icle,ltify t\\.0general pOsi-tiotls taken by the plrticipat~ts. There,,,2s Rh,,:,ys a ,,ery Small mi,,ority of\?olt,t>teers ,,,1>0 co,lsiclered the A]ner-icx,] clor,,it,;tnce of the progr:xrn to be:Icleqt,;,te reasor, for abx,]clo”ir~g it.The o,,er,t,hel”lit,g maj”rity, ho,te,,er,felt that A,]leric,,l d“,,~i,,ar,ce ,,.s ,],,.fort~,,,ate I]{,t l>”t sllfficie,,t reasor, tohalt or seriot,sly nlte,- the pr”gri,),l.They poi,]tecl to the ,,ery real progress

being made by the Dotninic:<r% teach.ers a“cl argtted that the balance \,,ashea,,ily itl fa\,or of cot)tilll]ing a“dexpa]lding the program,

Both of these positio,ls c.tn be iden.tified, Iinkecl to a cotlcept, ar,d criti-cized. Both positio,ls failed; theyallo\t.ed a had program to col]tint,e fort\\,o at>d a half years. The majoritypositio,] failed becal,se it \t.as pro,,edi,lcorrect, The minority positi”” faileclbecause, althotlgh correct i,l one ser>sc,it \vas co,>lpletely ir]effective as a basefor argt,ir)g the case it s~,pported,

1 \votlld call th”se ,,,ho held the,ni,,ority positio,l the “s,ll”g moral-k~ers.” These people :Irgued thatAmerica” <I”millance of the pr”gramproj,ed, ipso facto, that the programshould ,jot exist. This positio,~ \vnsesserltially a moral o’ne n,>d ,s,as there-fore itleffecti,,e. Its acll,ocates \t,ereeasily satisfic~l \\,iththeir clich~s aboutthe importa,, ce of host cotl,,try “a.tiollal participatio,l. They sa,t, “o,~eecl, a“cl {lid ,I”t seem able, to trans.late their nlaxims i,lto practical ;Irgu.,l]e,lts applicable to ol,r p+ogri,,l, hgostpeople operate 0,, practical cox,sidera-ti”n 3,>c1 are l,ot strongly i,lfllle,lceclby moralis,,] pe,- se. The m;xj”rity sa,v,1o re:tso,> t“ tt,r,l agai,lst a,, apparentlyexcellent progrnin silnply becatlse it\,iol:~ted so,,,e sort of “r~de” \\,hich n“O,le C“tllcl effecti,,elv at]nlv to ““r.,,sitt, t,ti”,).

The V“lttr,teers h“lcling the r>~ajoritypositi<],> ,may be k,beled the “~lneritic:tldo.gooders.” ,rheir concept \\,as that

,. r..._ .... ..

Old woman who livesnea, Ha;t;an horde,

Fe,m;n, of Santo Dom;ngo

Osiris

of simply helpi!lg people. Their fnili[lg..:is basically :1 lack of sophisticltior~.I \t,as ,x metnber of this category dt,r-ing lllost of my ser,, ice and feel tllilt1 earl clescribe ho\x, \\,e vie\\,ecl ot)r\\,”rk

\ve ta~,ght otar classes a,,d visitedot, r teachers. It t$>as,lot eas y h,lt \\,ek“e\t. tb:it oltr teachers \vere imprO\,-i]lg. JVe \\,ere a\vt3re of the lack ofDo,ni)licfl,l participation bttt dicl notfeel that it \\,asa crtlci:d Inatter. IVe\\,ere helpi!lg o{,r teachers and kne\vth,it our frie,]ds \\,ere doi,~g the sameill tn:l,ly other locations. \Ve felt Ollr-sel,,es pclrt of :1 prograin that ti,asrnpiclly ,Lpgracli,]g lhe proficiency of,n:l,]y te:xchers ancl therefore a part ofn peacefld ,e\,ohttion ill the Do,nini-ca,l col,,ltryside. Some abstract theory:,s to the t~eed for Domi[)ical~ il,\,oh,e-,Ile,lt seemed irrele\,:tnt.

OtIr f:iilitlg \\,as uttr ot,ersitnplified,,ie,v (If xt,hat \\,as really ]lceclecl tochallgc Do,nitlicfin rllr.d cdtlcat ion.The sto]-y of the phase olit of tho]?rogcim is largely the story of ho,v,,,c slu\I,ly became ]nore sophisticatedab<,,,t ot, r ,\,ork. \Ve beg]” to see itas depelldetlt orl other factors. Teacherpro ficietlcy is ordy on,e of ,na,,y “...,.sary factors i,, :\nadccplate edtlc;itiorl:d~ystenl, mnd o~lr teachers’ lack of trfii”.,ng \\,as o,lly ol~e of ,na”y problems..~hey \%,ereL,nderpaid. ,Most of the]]ltaught stltdents ,\,ho x,,ouhl ,lever gobeyvllcl the third grade, They had no

job secl,rity. They had ,~o ~t,ay toobtiii,~ the !naterials \\,e taught themto t,se. Altholtgh \ve ,L,ere traini,,g

teachc l-s, there \wCis rIO progress bei,,gmade ill a,,y of the other areos es.set>tial to real edt.lcationxl cha,, ge,,\,fore importal>tly, there ,,,ns 110 tom.

n>ittnel]t by the Domit, ica” g“,,ern-]I,e,]t to chn”ge a“y of these areas.The go>ds ,VC had set for ot,r program,Certific:ltio,l fiIId snlar y r~ises for theteachers, seemecl less a“cl less likelyto come abot,t, Moreover, the real,,tdt~e of these goals, c“,lsideri,,g theI:lrger picture, bega,~ to appear lesscert:tin. \\7ell trair]ed teachers ,,,otjldhave ,)0 mea”i,,g i“ the old system,~,ld the system did not look like it\~zasgoirlg to chat, ge. Ivorse, \\,e\vere]lot even cloi”g a,>ything \vhicb gavereaso]l able hope of sti]~l~,latitlg ch:lnge.la) ten years there \t,ot,lcl be ,~othi,]greally different abotlt the r~lral schools,Tc:,cher trait,ing alone ,vas “ot e“o”ghto e\.en bcgi,~ to cltil”ge thi,]gs.

NO success without host

Th!,s \,ze sa\,> that the progra,n ,!,.sollt of step ,Vitb the rest of the rttrsledllc$ltiot~al sitt,:,tiotl. \Ve h[ld createdso,]~ethil,g :Irtifici,d \vhich, bect]t,se ofits .Irtifici; dity, ,vo,,lcl ,,,it her atv~,yx]ld have no Ifistit,g effect. At ltlst\T,ct,,>derstood tohy the I:ick ,]f D“rni!>.im,tl i,,,,oh,eme,,t ,\,as illlportant. It,V:LSitnport:t,lt bccat, se it \\,:lssympto.

matic of a gerleral Dominica” lethargyahot~t rttrxl ed”~,tio!l. This lneantth:)t the kir)d of cha,,ge necessary ‘to~i\). ,nea,,ir,g and \,ahte to the train.,,, g of teachers ,,.otdd not be forth.co]~~i,,g. Ottr stnccess at helpir,g teach.ers ,,,as therefore x]]ea,li”gless toDorni!>iat” edttcntio,]al clevelopme”t.

The experie,lce of the Domi,licxnRep”hlic teacher trai,]i,]g progrnmt,>ay be ,,ie,s,ed as ,,al,,nble i“ thatit e,~ables LIS t“ isol;ite :i~]d examin,es“n,c con,,n”,, pattcc,ls “f Peace Corpstholl~ht. Each of the pattcr”s co”.klitls elelnexlts of ,,alidity. Btlt o“rexperiexlce highlights some pitfalls,,,hich mt~st be a,,oided ill the f(]t,,re.

The co~,cept ,,,hich emphasizes thei,nport:t,, ce of host C“tt,,try ,Iatio,>ali,l,,olvcme,, t IIIICIpnrtici~~ti”], is ,,alid.It did ,Iot serve Las,,,ell, hO\vever, bc-cxtlse its advoc.ttes \\.ere co,]te,lt toprese,,t it as a ,noral tenet rathertha,l a x,ery practimd cor,sideratio,l, Itis >),, old ides ),,h”se :td,,ocacy hasbec<)me clichk-ridde,,, NO tin>eco~dd,vicld ‘it effectively e,,o~tgh to !nakethe pln[,,,ers pat,se, Ottr cxperie,,ceshotdd i,ldic,lte the importa,~ce ofd,,sti,~g off this old c“”cept al,d de,n.otlstratia]g its \,aliclity i,, “e,v sittla-tiulls. The c{ttestio,~ of ,vhy host “a.tio,l;ll particip;ltior) is i,nporta”t ,villcot~titl~,e to be asked by cxt,bern”tv“l,],ltcc,s ccrk, i,, that they are beingst,iccessf,d clespitc :? lack of host c“u,>.try pfirticip?tioll. Utdess someone ca”

Market scene ;“ s.” )“a” de la Mag”a”a

A ma” blows wale, o“ his galloin p,epa,~ (ion for a cockiigh[

18

.

ans\ver \vith practical applications tosl~ecific situatiot~s, the concept ,,,ill IIotbe heeded.

Another pitfall is found \vithill themost common pattertl of Peace Corpsthinki,~g—the urge to be of ser~,ice,to do good. Since this idez ;s the sine9t1a 7LOIIfor all Peace Corps efforts,’there ire pressures created ill itsf:lvor. All Peace Corps Volunteers areunderst:ll~d:lbly al~xiotls to believe thatthey are “doi!,g good” and they l>s!]nllyman:age to do so. This cre.ltes pres-s,lres agai,>st abandolli,, g progr;, ms;to halt a progri,!n is lISII;IIIY to admitth:lt n grotlp of !roh!,lteers has I>otbeen doir>g good, or at least a~otvery,nuch. It rarely bapl>el~s. These pres-silres to co,ltill,le existed i,] our pro-gram and bod much to do ,vith ourdel,xy in f;,ci,lg ~cality.

The pressllres, bo\\rever, ,lre Ilot sosigl~ificallt at the st.lff level. They doI,ot expk]in \vhy the decisions ~<,ercrn.lde to begit~ tLIId ttle,l ( ttvice) toexp;>,,d a,]d \vhy it \vas the Vohln-teers rather thn,~ staff ,.ho illitkttedthe progranl’s plulse O1lt.

Ot~e part of the “doitlg goo~ coll-cept is exemplified by a personalitytype ~vbicl~ may be called the “Pe,IceCorps lover. Like other lovers, this

type watlo\~rsit~ sentiment$dity to,va,dthe object of affection and cal? be,>eitber critiud “or den~al!ding of it.E,]tbrx] led with tbe Peace Corps“id=,,” they see r)o necessity for going

r,, ‘“ ‘T--

,nuch bevond the basic sittttttion ill,vhich y;~~zr,g A ]nericn]]s \vork ~vitha,]d “help” “ati\,es. The co,~~plexitiesof cle~,eloprne,lt nlld programming thusreceive little atte”tio,l. Those ,vhotho~lght this ivay ~).ere easily siitisfied,,,ith otlr program. They did Ilot at-te,npt :, serio~ls look at the 10,lg-~t,lgefactors IIecesslry f“r true s~lccess. U,,-der s~,ch tin approach the Peace Corpsis (as our progrxlm \\,as) basictlly allexercise it> ptlbtic rek,tiol]s.

People and/or progress

A],other pattern of Peace Corpstbotlght is often referred to as the

“l~eOplc tO l~eOI~Ie”element lt is alxlrt of virt[ially all of the forn]ula-ti”z,s ~vhicb :lre t,sed to opevate tbePC,CC Corps. There is I1O questiol~tb:~t this b:lsic bll,]];,,>ism is the single,nost crtlci:l! elcrxlet,t of s\,hat thePe,lce Corps is and should be. Theproblel>l is that so,~]e Vohlllteers al~dstaff ~ct :1s if “people to people” alo,>e,,,ere e!loklgh. So,l,e part of the slq-port for o<tr program was based onthe fact th:tt it fostered mn,~y goodrek,tiorlships bet\\,ec,~ Volu]lteers a,~dthe Domi,]ica]l teachers. 0,> this b:lsisthe prog~l,n cotltd bn\,e bee,> con-ti,),]ecl ]>0 matter \\,h:xtthe othe, cir-c,,,nsk,,,ces. Mere “people to people”aspects tllolle call,lot jtlstify .3 progrcl,ll.S“t,,,d progla,nnlit,g sbo~dd invotve a,]effectii,e combi,liltio,l of “people to

—

I

ZIei,>lop,nel>t.\Ve criticize A,I. D. for st%t,~,rolling

to,\,ard i]lstarlt progress at]d igi,ori,,gpeople, A.I.D. tooks do\Lz,lits ,]ose atthe Peace Coq~s for its irrele\a,lcy to,,atio,):tl di,,ehq]met~t. The ~t,>iq~,eop.port,l,lity at]d clxlllerl~e of the PeaceCorps is to co],~bi])e the t\\,oallcl be.colne * Inore effective force for clxll,ge.The Domitlicn,~ Repl,blic t=,cher trai,~-i,lg progr:lln represents all effort irlthis clireetioll tb,bicb fililed. The f:lihtren]>d its lessoIls ca,> seli,e to lI1:Lkc thenext effort IIIore stlccessf~d.

Editor’s t?ote: There are rIOU 60Vohtnteers workivlg ill 11 feochertroillillg cerjters i,r the Dot?zi?licar> Re-r],d?llc. Fice of dzese centers will co~lI-?Tletefhe three-year traitlillg cycle ifl

J(,lle at~d the Vol[irlteers tollo .$taffthent are sched[ded to lCUGGtlze fioecetrters ((t that time, Present pla)l~ callfor Volli,]teers to co,?! itlt(e teachillg ill

the six rerllaini,lg cetlters r))ltil Ihoietrait?it]g cycles etld {II Jt)lle, 1970.

D[dG Deusot] spent 18 71?0!11/1s08a Voh{llteer ill file Do~]lillico!l Rept(b-lic leacher trait?i(,g />rogro>>l. He t[i!ighti], one of the training cel]fers utldlater coordi,l[tted, st(pport efforts (,l,dseroed os (z Voh(tltcer-st[{ f lioisolz. fteholds a B.A. irr ed[tc<?tiotz fro,>j theU,?iccr~;ty of JJlirlois (tlzd tilt h! A. i!lhi9t0r~, froIrI the Unitiersit!/ oj Cali-for)li” utLos A)lgelcs.

I

I

Girl {,om a small commun;tyvea, Hait;a” bo,der

Mother and so” ;n theirstall at /he publ;c market,

7

San Ian de la Magu.na

79!i,.

Volunteer and

trainee deaths

in 1968

Six Vohltlteers :],ld three trait~ees,ot, t of ,nuve thtixl 12,000 ill (he Pe:lceCorps it, 19G8, diecl dt!ri,lg the y%tr.

‘~he Voh,tlteer deaths itlclltded:At;]rk l?:tiylllnker, ?4, of Gree,dxly,\\/is., \$4,0 dixtppeared \,,hile \\,orkingin, Ta,>za,>ia :II,d \\,as declarecl deadfi,,e nrld o,]c-hxlf lno,lths later; AlexeiZbit,joff, 23, of Uki:dl, C:dif., :]11ttrba,>c“”l,ll{,<lity dc.,eloptne,>t ,,,orker, ,,,1)0died ,,f self -ialHictcd g,~,lshot ,,,o,t,ldsi,, El S,d\,aclor; Sah>adnr \raS[lllez, 25,of tlie Rro,,x, k~, Y., ,,,ho ,“orkecl \vitl~yollth clllbs i,, C<dunlbi:l a,lcl dieclthere ill a 1]18s:Iccicle,>t.

The last three de~ths of 1968 all,,,ere the res,dt of :Itlto acciclellts:\7irgir,i:x Zink, 2G, of Pittsbl,rgh, \~,asn biology and che,nistry teacher in\I,ester,j Nigerfil; ThO,IlaS La ffeY, 25,

of Pittshltrgh, \\,as fil]ishitlg his tbirclyear :,s a. te:lchcr i,l Afala,vi, a*3d \Vil-Iia,n Ilellyer, 26, of SatI Berrl:jrclir)o,Cnlif., \\>orkeclill ngricldttlre ill I1lclia.

All three t~litlee cle:]ths occurred illh,”,,c,,,ber; Job,] ORrien, 22, of Sa,,Frarjcisco, ,,ZXS trai,]iv, g i,> lIa,,,aii for:x Fiji progr:tm \\2hetlhe died itl a fall;Johrt Beckt~er, 23, of Bellcxtlc, hIich.,dro,\,tled ill Af:d;lysi:, \\,hile tnlit, ir,gfor ,\:ork ir~ that cot,tltry, al,d \\~illiatn]. Ackerrn:i,], 23, of Rapid Cily, S. D.,diccl of all overdose of clrllgs i,> CO-lorllbi:l ,i,hile traitlin~ for r~lral cle\el-opme,lt \L.orkthere.

Regit~taing ,,,ith the de:]ths of Co-]O,~,bi,,,, \]Ol,,,,teers D,l”icl Crozier

,I,,d La\\,re,)ce Radley irl all airplaneaccicle,lt ill ~\pril, 1962, (here hnsbee,) a total of 49 Vohlllteer de.lthsa,, d 4 trairlec de,lths. Vehicldnr acci-det>ts, plaa,e cr:]shes XI]CI dro\\,~i~lgha,,e bee,, the pritlcip,d cnl]ses.

Dr. ]oh,l l-farkt>css, directo,- of thePe:,ce Corps h{edical Divisio,>, hasrepnrted that the de,lth rate fro,n allr.l,,ses for Voh,llteers is abotlt thesa,l>e as for ‘n col~~p:ir:lblc :Ige grolq]ir, the U,lited States. h40st”Vol,,,lteersare ill their early t\ve,~ties. The clenthr:tte for the 15-24 year old age bracketill [he U.S. is 1.1 for 1,000 perso,]s.

Ot]ly o])e \70h,,lteer has e\,er diedof dise:, se. This rate is betterthatl that of a cO1llparablC grolq> ofArneric;x,,s Ii,,i,>g i,l the U.S. :I!ld not

exposed to ,lc:lrly the same range ofdiseases as ,Ire the Voll,ntecrs.

Dr. Iizrk]less said that before thedays of moder,l medical ad~,x)~ces-tilegttmnla globtdia, i,]octdati”~ls :tg.li,,st,iral hepatitis bei,lg on~e exnmple–disease probably \\.otdd ha\,e bee,>ffitnl to a sizable pcrcer~txge of VOhttl-teers it> sonle parts of the \\,Odd. Buttod:ly it is such things as nlotor ~ehiclcnccide,, ts \\,hicb are ]nore deadly tothe Voll,]ltcers, nncl that is tr,,e foryot,,lg people i,) the U.S. as \vell.

Writing and art

sought for book

All for,,ls “f \\,riti,~gnrld art \\,orkby pt,st :,BICI prese,lt \rOlun>teers arebeing sot,ght for :1 proposed book o,,l?ence Corps experie]lces. The booYseclitors, ller~t>is Eros aIlcl forlner lLlcli:,\r”ht,,tccr s[e,,e DOI1OVX,I,seek essays,poetry, sc~dpt~,re, pait]til,gs :II,d dra\\.-i]lgs, photos a[>d fihns for “A PeaceCorps l’ortf,~lio.” Plnn]s i,lcludc ,x pos-sible fib,] ad:q]k~tio,l “f the pitblisheclhook.

‘~l>e eclitors stress that all items sL,b-lllitted ]leed ,]ot bc of professionalcl(lcdity; rather, they first seek “exPres.s,,e cxter>siol>s of iridi\,idt,als.”

“I\Ie \t,okdcllike to hear fro,n Vohtn-teers a,,d retllr)led Volclt~tcers \,,hofeel that their tbot,gbts 03] the PeaceCorps, PeIcc Corps life, XIICI rek>tedexperiences as Al)lericatls irl a foreig,>Iatld benr pl,blishing,’> they said.

lalterestec! perso,~s sho~,ld cotltactStc\.e Do,>ova,l, Shnrlti Pltblicatiolls,P.O. Box 235, h!orth Scittl:\te, Nf*ss.02060.

‘New Dimension’

in travel

Cotlcetltrnti,,g o)) the “people’> as-pect ~,thcr tba]l the “plnce” aspect oftra\.el, a he\,, org:ltlizatio,] hopes tosho\v clc\,elopit,g colll,tries to Atneri-C3B>totlrists jllst as Peace Coq>s Vol-Ltl]tcers see the]l>.

hre,” Di,]]et]si”,~ Tra\,cl is headedby Philip Lilie!lthal, :1 forti>er VolL,n-teer ir> Ethiopia, a!lcl ~\,ill take 111>to.50 people to Kes]~~, Tar]zania, Ugandail,ld Etlliup ia this fidl.

\Vhile s<,,meg:ln,e parks a]~d beaches,Ire i,]cl(,ded o)> the iti,~erary, the

20

three former Voh)nteers accompany -it~g the travelers \\,ill guide themprillcip:,lly i,]to mectil]gs ,t,ith stt,-det)ts, host co~lt>try officials, PeaceCorps Voltnlltcers a,,d official Alneri-catls abro., cl.

\\)hile the expected cost of thetllrce-\\.eek trip is clcscribcd as “rea-so,,:, hlc,” the :Iccom]],odations ,~.ill befirst class.

Lilietlth*l said the idea ,vns stilntt-Iatecl by the sight of hordes of tollristsr,,shitlg to col,,~tries like Ketl~T :Inde,,lergi,lg \s,eeks Inter ttt>to~lched byally k,lo\\4edge tbot there ,,,xs n>loreto “the co~~r~tryth:]l> s,limals a,]d com-f<,,-tcd,le stlrrolttlditlgs.

,’~[lc ],”L,c to ~ttract ,>e”l>lebet,,,ee,,

the ages of 35-GO \!,bo are a\vare ofthe glp sepiratir~g Ilati”>ls, 9s ,t,ell asthe OBICsep:]r:,ti,]g generntio],s, nnd,,,u,dd Iikc to Iear,l more ab”tlt both,”be said.

h~tcrestccl pcrsot>s Illay \!,rite tohle,,, Dil]lc]lsio” Travel at 11400 Or-chard La,le, Rcsto,l, v:i. 22070.

Peace Corps toreturn to Guinea

The Pc:lce Cc>rps \\,illrct{]r,> to tbc\{lest Afri~.,,) ,Iaii”l> of Cllil>c:l thiS

stIt>l,ller, ;tfter :3T1abse,lee of t\,,o a,]da Ixtlf yc:irs. Clli]lel Preside,>t S&ko,lTo[Lr6, \,ho expelled the cu,?tit]$et,t ofG3 Volt, r,teets i,) hlo,,e,>lber, 19GG,has req,,ested 21 \rOl~),]teers trai,>cdi,, get, ev. d t~lecharlics, itlcltlclitlg LIlit-ehi,, is(s, electric i:lns, tll:,cllir,e tool,clicsel :I,lc1 c,r ,~,ech,,,lies. The ret~ll-,>,n:trks the secotld time the agc!]cy \\,illI,;l,.e resl,lllccl opcx,tinn?s itl ,1 formerhost c.,tt> try. (The Pctce Corps re-tt,cxled to Ceyl<,tl i,l 1967 after XII:>bset>ce of t\vo >IIICIa half years. )

He,, ry A1OVI1l:,31, ,vI,o h:td hexclcclthe first Gclitlc:t progxllll si)>cc its i8l-ceptio)l itl 1963, :dso \\,ill rcttlr,, :1sPe,ce Corps coll,ltry director.

The Peace Coq>s ot]ster irt 196G rc-s,,ltecl f,-o,ll straitlecl rcl:, tie, ]s bet\~,ee,lthe U.S. :I,3c1 Ctlitlea sld,seqt,ellt tothe dete]~tio,, by Chatl:l of the C;~,illcandeleg.ttio,, to the Org,\)li~,ation of)\fri~,,, U,lit!,. Anlo,~g the Vollt,~tcersexpelled \x,erc28 agric~dtural \vorkers,19 ,I,echa,lics, 14 teachers at,d o,lesecretary.

Skilled \\orkers nre presetl(ly beingsotlght for the lle\v progralll. Recrl, it-ers :tre foct~sir]g their etiorts it, irl-cl,lstrial areas, ,,isiti,, g factories a,ldlabor (Illio,,s, The Penec Corps also

hopes to expedite selection proceduresby trsi,>g :, re,,ised, short form of the

~lLlestior~[lai~eXIld later, by ~Oncblcti,lginter,, ie,,,s ,,,itb :lpplicarlts, follo,,,edby o,]-the-spot ir,,,itotiol,s to trai,>il,g,The abbre,,i;tted qtrestion,, aire a,~d tliepre-il,,,iklli”,] i,>ter\,ie,5,sare ,,ariatio”sof methods pre\,iottsly used by thePcxce Coq>s to recrtlit and select JobCorps gradttates as Voh,rjteers. TheqLlestio,,l, nire espccinlly has bee” criti-cized as bei,lg too le,lgtby ar,cl too:lcade,>lic:dly oriet]tcd for the potcrltial:,pplirtil~t \\,hohas skills bt~t ,Iot ,,eces.sarily ,i college cd Llcltio”.

The lle\v grotq> \t.ill recei\.e trai,]i,lg;It the Virgi,] Isla,,ds ‘~rai,li,>g Ce,lter:Ir,d :tt the Org:>,>iz.ttio!> for Rehnbili.tatiot] tbrot!gb Tr;li,li,]g i,~ Cer,evn,S\t,itzerkt,,d,

Lettersto The

VolunteerTIIE \70LUFIEER tcolcorJIes letters

0?, cdl std?je’ys of i,,tcrest to112e PeaceCor,>s. I.ctters of 300 ttiordz or lessore JT1ost~!(ital]lo for !)(d>licatior~. Allletters (Ire s(,bjcct to co!lder]satiotl.

Jobs wanted

To ‘r,i~ VOLUXT6.1%:

1 ,,,o[dd like to rr]ake s“,ne c“,,).,llerl(s “,, the itrticl es, “’~be PeaceCorps fetish” arid “Fi,>dillg jobs f“r\\,oIncII” irl the October VOLUA.TEEH,lt has ah\.;Iys see,ned to xne that theFcace Corps or~?il?~atio,, ,,,ns littleIllore tbl,] :,r] e,]]ployme,lt nge”cy.Its job ,,,xs t“ get jobs for cnp.bleAlnerica”s i,, other co,t,ltries. PeaceCorps VolL])>tcexs \\2ereto fill jobs th:itcotdd blot be filled by the local peopleor to !Icld 1,1ill po\t,er \i,here ],ecess.~ry,So I bn\.e %l\v:Iys felt that the realrespo,lsihility that the Pence Corpshad ~,,as t“ find ,ne n dece,,t job–it, ,>>ycttse, ill I,ldin. 1 took o), f;,ith ,,,he,,I ,,,et]t is]to trai,>i,,g that there ,,,nsSL,CII a J“l,–a,,d that J !,,”,,ld go toI,>clia a,,d \vork o,> that j“b f“r t,t,oyears.

1 lla\,e sadly Co,,,e to 6,)CI that thatjob cloesyl’t exist ( :ifter bei,,g i,, cottal-try or,e year), th;it it ,Iex>er existed,

btit that it took “l. .,,. yenr to realtieit. h.fy h{lsba,?d anlcl 1 \vere sent to,,,ork in a ,,~ltritior] scbe,me i], I,)dia;S~liy Yt,delma,l car> gelleraltie herc:lsenl>Ollt\vOtl>et>\rOhinteers in SoLltbAmerica to married coLLples i,, b,di~.\\?e’re irl the sa,nc batt thotlgh it issmilll comfort “o,,,.

‘rhe problem ,10,$, seems to ~Is–Peace Corps diclr,’t fi!,dtls a job. Theysaid they did, b~,t ,,,e don’t haj,e or>e,,~!ld I thi,jk o fairly good case c.~], be,l]tlde that they coLdd I>n,,c st,spected

.:,s ,,,t,cb before ,,,G came, So as ParkTeter tloted, I also find myself be-cotning more ;L,,cl more of :, cfit”k. 1am told to “bra,~ch out,” to be “crea.ti\,e.” Frankly, \\.e’\,etriecl and been,i!>sl,cccssfL,l—!,,e’re f:, ilures the,>. A,>cIto make ,Ixltters ,,,orse, since ,t.eI]h,,e,,’t prodt)cecl a,lythit,g, or co,,>ilap \\,itb sotnctbi,l~ cle\,er, oLtr ple:xs:Irc ,lot qLlite liste,lccl to—\,,e ore dis-,,lissed ascra,,ks.

This brir)gs ,,,e to the poi,jt of thisletter–l have t,,,o cptestions to ask.Fro,Il OL,Ylittle to,!,,l i,> l\rester,~ I,ldia,,,,c r,,r,]l”t ck[irn to be experts, So ,t,e\votddlikcto:,sk. .I-Io\,,t~xltlyotl]er\/ol~l,,teers ilre sttick \vitbotlt jobs,\~,ere se,lt i,lto “tkt,str,~ct,,recY pro.g,:llllS al~Cl tOld to be “cr~tti,re” al,<lfo[,a)d o,dy en,pti!less? Seco,~dly, arethere :~ny other com,~~ents 011 the id~lof the Peace Corps :,s all enlployme,)tIge,]cy? For it seems to LISthe orgn]l-iz:, tier) has r~ot ftdfilled the respo,~-sibility it h:id to LIS, of G,]dirlg tis :1job for t,,,o years. It has plnycd :* big@7Bne \$.itb1>s,gottel> lls to I,ldi;t, gi\,cllt,sa’’site,’’ plttlts o,>n list, aald is]lottaking responsibility for the cOTlse-qc]e,lces of that actiotl.

irA[lcO cOr\.K130r,lb:ly, I,ldia

‘Causes’ of the rebels

To T,,. Vor.uxrz~l,:hfr. Vat]gb”’s:,rticle, “The cat,se of

the rebels” (No\,e,nber VOLUXTEEN)sbotved co,>sidcrablc sympathy for thedisaffcctio” “f ot~r get>erati”ll ,,,ith t]le,,,”rld ,,,e bo,,e irlberitecl. By “o,<, ,,,eb:i\2eCO,I>Cto expect s,~ch ,i,,dersta,, <l.illg from the Director.

Bllt 1 ,,,otdcl like to make one cor-rcctio,> “t> the basis “f ,ny e.,perie,lce.The lcttersl]”t]lcl reacl: ‘Z’rhecattsesoftbe rebels. ” Ph,ral, “otsingtdar. Fro,nthe i,>side, the pb,raliz,>> of the yot,,,gacti,,ists a!ld tbi,,kers is perhaps their,nost r,llierlt fe.itt~re. Perbnps e\,e,,“CaLISCS”is the \\,rOIlg\\,Ord,for it im-plies a cohcre,>ce or t,t>ar>i,nity ,,,bicbI atl> ,,ot sttre exists.

21

If there is a,,y consenstts amongLXS(,vbich 1 dot, bt) it may be in thisbelief: th;lt tbe greatest good lies i“the lz!limpeded de\,elopme,lt by eachindividl, al, for himself, of his o\vnexperience, \.allles at]d life style.JVh:lt ,!,e nre reacting agai,lst, per.haps, is a society \vhicb impedes theappreci.ltiol, of the irlclividllid bt,mn”e~pcrietlcc.

ALAX PACE FISKEChitipa, Nfala\\,i

IVS in Vietnam

To TIIX \70LUXTE8<”:

Se\,e~d Voltl]]teers bate suggestedse,ldir]g the Peace Corps to So”tbViet~,:],]l. A{ay I i,~forn] yotl that avol~,,,teer Org.g,]iz:,tio,l, la,terrlxtior~al\?ollllltary Ser,, ices, has bee,, ,yorkirlgthere sir~ce 1.9j8.

IVS ,,oIL,I,teers tcicb E,]glish, u,ork,,,itb f;xv,llers, \\,ork i“ reft, gee camps,bospit,ds a,>d ot-pbar>;)ges. The ,,”1.Il,ltecrs ;Ire corlt~tetecl for t\c,o ye.irs2,>cI Iix,e 0,, x Peace Corps type s:dary,A,[l,,y “f the lVS ,,oh,,lteers are for.,,ler l.>ezce Cor[]s \70h,i]teers,

l~l,.L1,\>C SE1l,<lLEFo,,ner \70h,,,teer

\liet,]:,t>]

‘Equal but separate’

To TErE VOLUXTEEI%:

Altho,,gb 1 agree \,,itb the ;ntct~t ofthe letter by forlllcr Vob]nteer Da,>ielF \\lo”cl, p~tblisbecl irl the hlo~,en]berissl]e, 1 belie\,e his. :lrg~,rnent ratbcrmissed the poi,~t,

There are, of col]rse, ma,ly loopholes i,, the Selecti,,e Service 13{,,stb:,t are exploited by the better edLt.cated a17d the fi,]n,lci:llly blessed. 1\\,oldd ,,ot, ho\\,ever, sllggcst thatser\,icc iz] the Peace Corps afforcls a,,opport,nr>ity to a\,Oid tbc clraft and allof its trot, blesorne ,lloral ramificatio,]s.

kxo crcdi/1/e V“lt,tlteer !,.otalcl tlli,>kof PcIce Corps see,, ice as atl alter.,,:iti,,e, b,~t r,lther os a primary expres-sii],l of “,,e’s belief i,, o,~e’s ability toco,,trib~,te to the historic;dly rek,rdedbtlma,]iz,ti”,> of the society of ma,,.ity opi,,i”r, is that this ,nission isstlpcri”r to the c[,rret,t nlissiorl of tbeArmed Forces. That the Peace Corpsis a .,”l~,l]b,lry Ser!,icc does ,Iot <lil~,teits c“,>tribt,tio,> to the ‘strellgther]i,,gof the A,l]ericat] \\,orldpoliticnl st;lt[,s.

1 a,,, presc,ltly ser,,i”g i,, the U.S.

Army, and I at>] able to nss~lre Mr.\VOOd tlxlt 1 ;Illl not “remO\,ed fromthe field of collsideratio,~” ,\,ith respectto bei,lg jailed hy the militarists forndherirlg to z li,le of thil]ki,lg that irl-spirecl ,lle to ~.oltll>teer f“r the peaceCorps. The Army rcf~,secl l~~y :tppli-c:lti<>rl to be cl:lssifiecl “cotlscie,~tioltsobjector” I>ecaltse 1 do n,ot predicate,>]y nnoral cocle 083 religiO1,s grOtI,lds.I II<],. face a possible cottrt ,narti;til,,,,hicll LL,oldd he r~all$ht bttt a preh,clet“ co,lde,n,>atioll :It,d it,carceratiotl.The cri,ne a)]d the disho,>or is it, theco, ttt-aclictio,> of go\,er,>Ine,~t p“liciesn,>d is blot o,> the part of those perso,ls\,,h” refc,se to mov.dly std]\,ert theit-Inbors rc.,lized \vllile scr\,itlg tllec:x,lse,,f pe:)ce.

As Ic>l>gas tberc :Irc politics of \2io-Ie,>ce, I ml]st acl\,Ocate the discrimi-,,;lt”ry policy <>f“ecjLIal b~tt separate,”i.e., P=Ice Corps or Art,led Forces.‘rhis shotdcl ,n:[rry ,,icely \\,ith a co]l-scr,,;,tive \,ie\\,of the \t,Orld.

C. lZICAn~OCAXtFtSELLFormer Vol,,tlteev

I?”rt Bc]l,~ir,g, Ca.

Limits same for both sexes

To T,,, \rOLUXTEEn:I ,V.IS LItlpleas:t,ltly surprised, ;Ifter

:1,) cxciti,lg three yc.lrs as :x feln:dei,l rl,ral con>,n~,,]ity de\,eIOp,ne,>t illChile, to recxd Sallyylldelt,>a,>’s article(October VULUXTEIZ,I) stating that\votne,] really I,a,,c :1 Iirnited role tot>lay itl the Peace Corps i!> L:~ti,>.,Arneric:x,

Of coL1rse the ?IIOCIIO Cldtt,reofLxtir~ A]neric:t is a)l obstacle to,,,”me,l, botk Latitl x!~d North Ameri-C:lII, hilt it is )]ot i,lst,r,not,nlt:lble if n,,,om:l,l has solne mnt~lrity, commonscl]se, i~ltelligellce a,ld i,litioti\,e. Isper>t t\\,Oyears \L.ith n,]other girl i“:1 rl)~d post ill sot,ther)l Chile \vorkialg,,,ith Miip,lcbe hldi:ll,s :itlcl I re-e,disted f“r a third year :do,]e i,> thes:,”)e spot, Initially there certai,lly,,,1s nppositio,> fr<)t>l middle .IassChilel,]s to ollr collsta!lt \\,ork :Ittircof je.lnls ;Irld boots a,ld riclil,g daily.mlo,,e “,1 I,orsehilck ir, I,ldia,, co,]l-,I,llllities, Iltlt the Inldi~tt, nnd Chileanpoor hacl r~usltch dificldties in aecept-i,,g tts. \\!e \,,orked pritnarily \\,ithnlerl a)]d ill projects that perh:lps,night be c<,tlsidcred “]lxlscldille”-I]t,ildi,lg bridges, roads, a school, amedic: dpost. It \\,:xs\\,h:ltthe I,>dia,]s,va,lted a!~d \~.hxtthey \?,ere \\,illit~gto,\,ork for. If n,lytbi,]g, OLIr bei!lg fe-III;des ,nttcle the \\,ork e>~sier, plr-

tictd:>rly i,, gctti]lg through the go\,-erlltnetlt obstncle course to sec~,rebtillclozcrs, trucks, eqtiipme,lt, a]ldtcch~]icnl aicl. \Ve did ],ot lose olIr

“fe]ni,li,lity” irl the process 8s theChile:ttl ]Ilales \$,O1ddoften het>cl o\,erlxtck,{.:,rds to help \vbat they consid-ered helpless fe,mxles.

hlore i,>,portn,lt perh;]l>s tho,~ jtlstsollle s~lccessfill projects \\,as ol, r rc -klti”t~ship to Chilea,~ \,,on~cn. k[azlyof thelll ha\,e trellle,ldol,s abilities t“cdfer their Co,,l,ll,n)lities I],nt they hil\,cbee,, repressed by the clo,nir]a,]t L:iti,~i,ttitl,,de to,,,.lrds the ,~selesstless of,,,o,,>e,>. B,,,t lie established closefrie,]dships ,,,ith ,nfi,,y ,,:ollle,~, both,t,led~ncntecl c<tl]]pesill[,s, ,vives of ritralprope,ty O\l,ners, a,>d x fe\\. nliddle-CI:ISS pr<,fessi”,l~ls \,,ho becanle key

,f:tct<,rs iv, itlitiatirag hcaltk programs“r, the I,,dix,> ceser,,ati”t>s ;Ind ser,, i,,g,,s the he,,lth st~,de,, ts \,,ho ra,, the”,.It \\,ss these ,,,ot,le)] \<,hoexerted thept-ess,tre 0,> ,l]ale pttblic officials toprn,,ide the “lnterials for the school;,,,cI. t,pgr:, de the agriCtdtLl~ll exten-siorl ser\>ice to Inldi:lnl c<f!>lpcsinos.A,]d it \,,:,s these peasa]lt \\,i\,es\t,hopr”dded their b,,sba)>ds i,lto \\,orkingC,I1 the roads ar~cl bridges and the,,lediad p“st.

The difficldties klrs. Yt,debn:,tl :,1-Iltdes to for Peace Corps felnales it]r[)ral de\selop,,,eI,t see,,> to ,l>e t<] bethe f>lt,lt of Pc:tcc Corps selectiot~bec:,tlsc these di%cldties :Ipply as \\ellto m:lle V<,hll]teers i,] isolited ruralposts, Perso,,al ,nat{lrity a,>d il]itisltive2re rerl~,ired of both mole 8,1c1 femaleVolti,lteers, n,, d it ,,,as ob,,io!, s inChile tht)t;ts t,~:itly,m.,lcs lackecltl,esecl~ltliities $!s fe,llales, I clol]’t think Ie,>er ,,,:Is so disgllsted \\,ith the PeaceCorps as the d:iy 1 rode it~to a ,leigh-bori,,g ,,ilk,ge to disctlss a project \vithn hi,sky, stro]lg rn:de lrol,,~lteer artdfot,,,d IliTn :Islecp at 12 p.m. EIe didthis e\.e[y cl:ty a,]d i,> the after,~uol~he played soccer Lcc:ltlse hc co,ddll’tfigt,re “tit.,t,hat to do alone althol!gllthe lllcliarls arotlr>d him ,,,ere cor>.sklr~tly conlitlg to our t,illage to re-<p,est help i,, bt,ikli,~g roads, hridgcs,schools, a)ld impro,,itlg their agrictd-tl,re.

At~d as for problems \~,ith PeiIccCorps regiotlal directors, I do,~’t llrl-derst:, t~d \t,hnt she is tidking abet, t.1 r<ll-ely xi\\, my director atld rarelyt)eecled to and he felt like\$,ise. Thepeople 1 sa\v \vere Cbilea,l hospital<Iirectol-s, :Igro,lu,nists, te,lchers, politi-c;d represer~titti\.cs, \\.ben 1 tleededstnpport or nicl—it is their cult{)re and

22

their problems, not those of the PenceCorps or thelocxl director. If Volun-teers ]~ecd col,sta,lt s~tpport a“d helpfrom their Americat, director, ,vhetherthey be female or male, then theybetter be se,lt home; they are accom-plishitlg little for the de,,elopmetlt ofthe host col,,ltry or themselves

CATLE P, NOBLE~Ornler \701ut>teer

[tblcn, N, Y.

On ‘our Nepal’

To T]sz VOLUXTEER:As for Do, E;d,ad[rr Bista’s recent

article (hlo,.ember VOLUNTEER) 1 \,ig-<,c”[,sIY :t$rec \,,ith his ide,>tificationof hi~pnl’s probletll-self co,lfidence.l-fo\,,e\.er, l\,iolejltly disagree tvith hisI“gic,

I-fis cot,cept “f a Pe:lce C“rps VOl-Li,>teer :ts a ~>llilosol~her-gL,ide-con\,er-s:~tiollalist s]~lacks of \Vhite h4ar~’sXIagic/Ail> Progra,ns, Dor Balxidt]ris a collllxtssiotlatc at]cl e!dighte,lcdI1lL,,l ,,,1)0 Io\,cs his co[,tltry and is tthigll-le,,el theorist ;Incl a good o,le too.Bt, t he clues [lot gi\,e the guy ill theAlepali hills f,,dl creclit for his vibrn,~t,,, ill to li,,e i,, a ,,,orlcl ,,,here the oddsarc st:lcked :ISairlst hitn.

I f“~t,ld the A1epaIi ma,> ancl theAlepil[i ,,,omaa, i,l the ,,illages getler-:,lly k,>e,,, ,,,hat their problems \veren!lcl they \vere o)>ly t;o ,villit]g to,\,”rk t“ SOl\,ethe,,,.

It’s R bitter lCSSOIIyo(I lenrl> it] thePcstce Corps, It is not in being ali,l-g!list, n good fello\t.. It is h“r]lilityat,d h~,,l>ility is I>othing more thanf:tci,lg the reality of \vlult yell are asa person. Dor Bah:lcltlr is ix theorist.,ICI :, scholar, I ,,,as a “tech]licit!].”Btlt fur t\t.o years \\,e both lived ino,tr Nepnl.

Jo,,N J. GLEASONF“rlI~er Volu,)teer

l\Tc,,,YOrk City

Money: no solution

‘rO ‘rl.#E \rOLUXrEEl<:

1,1 reference to :i letter by JosephShafra,~ (October \rOLUXTEEI<), 1 be-lie\,e th;tt he shotdd tlot co,]f use “suc-cessfld e,~terprise” ( mo,ley Inxkitlg)as the oldy ,,fay to help people. Being:,,, cx-bi]sitless,,]a,l, 1 :dso believedth~t “t]]o,ley” cotald sol,,e all the,,.orlcl’s problell>s. But, bec~ltse of thisPc;tce Corps experie,~ce of servi]lg asn \Toh,13tecr at the roots of real pov-erty, I hn\,e fo~l,ld nlyself cloi,lg all of

tbc IIegative tbi,lgs that hfr, Shafrallis agai,,st: “sold searchil]g, self eval,,.atiu,l, gro\\,i,,S t,p, filldi”g my,e]f,r>a,, cl e,,e]l “disc[lssi,lg the 10\,e of ,na,I-ki!]d.” As. a clirect co,]seq~,ellce, 1bal,e C“IIIC to realize that the prob.Iems that plxg~te Ve!]ezx~ela, Kenya,‘Chailanld, h]din, Harle,n and Iv:ltts.Ire IIot j~,st dle desire for .1 “sl,ccess-ftnl c,,terprise” ( nlaki”g ,nore money).

Atr, ShafRtirI i,?ferred that this intros-pection is a dctrime,lt (0 pe:,ce CorL>Sgoals >311cIt“ ot,r effecti,,etless (as re-g:irdecl by ollr host cot,,]tr.~, ,I:ltio,>als ).I-fopefld]y, ,t,e \\,illIear,l fro>]] ot!r ,ICI!,expcricrlces :L,Id be II]ore capable toope,, o,nr eyes to the real problems ofthe ,,,”rld. This (introspection,>) i“ “o,,,ay is hi,]deri,,g the Voh],lteers’ prog-ress \~,ith,Ilarketi,lg c“operati,, es, sm,-i,lgs nt>d 1“2,> cu”ps, c“!lstllner coops,eclllcx CiO,]:d i,,strt, ct i<>tl, bcalth orie,>-t:1tiu,3s, pla,,[)irlg of better cities nt,dcotllmltr>ity dc,,elopmetit.

T,,,c, “,,lo,,ey is ,)ecc.ssary,” b“tVol,t,ltcers j,ill ,>”t solj,e the ,,,orld’sproblellls at the grnss roots le,,cl. Anycha,>ge ,,>ill have to co,>>e.froln the tople\,cls Of ~o,,erl]”]c~]t, Lt,si,less, reli-giO,l, 21,>dthro,~gb the systems of edu.catio,l. ~l,t, for tholi:~,lds of years:Ir,cl throt, gh I]illio!>s of clollars, itsce,,ls ir”t>ic that ,s,e ( the people of“c,>terprise>’) are slill scckillg sohltionsto ou1r i,,t,[,lner:ible problelns. Tbere-f“rc, n,oa?cy a,,d til>le ca,l,lot sol,,eex>erytbing.

TO be st,ccessftd, o,,e mxtst I]lakemislakes, a,>cl \t,ith all the SIICCCSSthePe:tcc C“rps has, 1 do hope that, “thebettcri,]g of American yot,ttb’> is Ylotto be rnisilltcq> reted as a ncgati\,e fnc-tor C“,lxideri,>g the Vol[8”teersaretryi!lg to better ,na!]ki,ld thro[~gb theirpOsiti\.e efforts.

IIAI<L%SDALE sTnOcKSxlltingo, Ve,3ezLIela

On ‘minority Volunteer’

To T,[E \?OLUXTEE,j:

As >ifor,ller \lOh,,lteer a,,d x hlegrOA,,>ecicatl, I \i.:,s i,,terested i], thearticles reg.lrclillg the “n]i,]ority \~ol-t,tltccr” (October 1701.”xTEE”). r ..,11<1easily relate so,ne of the \\,riters’ ex-perie,]ces to ,I>y “,,,n. Ho,,.e,er, Ifotir~cl,ny corltiicts ,\,ith the i,ldiSe,louspoptdati”,l, \\,hile admittedly disco,,.certirlg 0,, Occlsio,,, ,Iot ]]e:Lrly as tra[,.n];ltic as ,,,y c“,>ktcts\t,ith x>~yfello,vAn>ericar,s.

J ,S,XS the o,dy Negro in ,~)y groupof ,Ipproxinlntely 67 Voll,. teers, and

MemorandumTo : The field DATE: February, 1969FROM : The editors

SUBJECT: Transition

Taking note: The Peace Corpsl>O\\,operates l,rlder a BepLlbli.PClll ;lcb,lir listrati”,> f“r the firstli,l>e i,> its sc,,e,,.,,ear history.170V Director Jack ‘\J;>,,,gb,l, thettil,,sitio,] coitlcides ,t.ith the be.gitlr>ixlg of his fot,rtb year ashead of the age,lcy, the post be:,ss,,,?led hfarch 1, J.9GG. “1tbi,]k ,i,e sbo,,,ld be able t“ cI”ht,sir]ess as ,s,e]l ,t,,cler e!cpha),tpO\T,er:>S ,,,,der do,,key p“,,, c,,”saicl hlr, \7;ILIghII, ~rhnt remi,, <]sllS Of allotller elephn,]t tripV“:tllghal took ;It the hxe,,, De]l]iZirport i,] 196G (at right). HisCO-p;lSSC),ger ,031 the ride ,,,3sdepL]ty dircct”r llre,,t Asb:ibr~Ir,,]er, tbe,l the Pence COVJ]s director i,,I,]di;,,

❑ on

TIJE \?or.ux7~~l% welcomes “ew associate editor J~,dy’ Tbele]I. A VOl~In,lteer it] Verlcz~tela fro,,] 19G5 to 1967, J[ldy retl]r,ls to the Peace Corpsnfte~- a one-ye;lr stit,t “n C;lpitol Hill ;ts press a,,d research assista,?t toCo,,gress,l]an Jlobert Derl,]ey of hrebraska, She holds a B.A. ir~jollr,>alis,l]fro!n the Ur,ix,ersity of Aiebraska a,,cl c“lnplcted the fotlr.mo,,th progra,llof nd,,aa>ccd stt]di,es at the \\7asbir]gto,l (D. C.) Jottr,,alisln Ccr~ter. ‘I,)verlez~lela, Jt,dy a,>d her h~,sba,,cl Keal \\>orkedi,> Y>ICA p,-ogralns. i,>h4araca,ibo a,)d Cax,r,,s. As eitra assig~,lne,,ts, Jtldy edited “J\~,,lpUp,’!atl ill-co~llltry \701u]ltecr l]jagazi,~e, a,)d ser,,ed as Ve,]eztlela correspor]deiltto ‘rllE VOLUXTEEIX. 1,1 bcr tle\i. job she \\,illbe \\,orki,~gclosely ,,,itb allotlr cl,rrct,t co~-rcsp”r,de,,ts.

❑ on

Reelections on re-entry: A 170111]lteer abottt to fitlisb his Peace Corpsser\,ice tbotxght IIp the hlatiol]al E!]lerge,lcy Ilelief for Volt],lteers E[~dingSer,,ice. The acro,lym: AIERvES,

❑ 00

Malaysia Volunteers h4adelit>e Stabile, Stephartie h4i~t,lda n]ld K,lteGriffit,’ :tre respo,,sibl. for the fullo,t,it>g c“r,trib~ttiorl. They call it a“Peace C“rps B:, ffle-goh Thess,,rt, s.” Their i,]str~]ctio,]s: “All a), O,,CV.,,,”rked st:,ff ,T,c,,lber r,eed do is pick a 3-digit l>t~,,]ber to assist hi”] illhis efforts to f“r~e ottr ‘677’.”

1. C{dt,lrxlly2. effccti\ely3. realistically4. idealisti~lll~,5, mtttllall,,6. creati,,ely7. perso,>ally8, constrt]ctij,ely9. i,ltellectt,xlly

1. ht,mn,,2. moti,,atcd3. artictlhltc4. rele\;t,,t5. flexibleG. :tltrtj istic7. credible8. se,lsiti\,e9. satisfyi]lg

1. Sti,,]tllt,s9. respot,se3. Cotn,nitlnellt4. dixlogtle5. Cat’llystG. experier>ce7. i,llnges. attt,,,e,ne,,t9. i,l,,”lj>eme,lt

—

23

this proved far more anxiety produc-ing to me than any other facet of myte,,,tire. I had to face their queriesas to ho~v I managed \vith the indige-

~

I]OUS people, \vhy Negro men ,ve?rmol,staches, an occasiol~al slur relatedto .my color, nnd l!neasy tension \vhich

grew Out of the America” social strl,c.ttlre relat,ve to Negro and \vhite.Communication at more than a sltper-ficial level \t,as unlikely if not impos.sible \\,ith precious fe\v exceptions.This \vas true because my peers per-cei\,ed me ]~ot as an American butrather as a Negro. Further exncerbat-il,g the gldf xvas tbe fact that ol,r c,d-tttrnl ar]d life cxperiet~ces \\,ere totallycliff ere,lt eve,] tholtgb \x,e canle fromthe same co~,ntry. P:ar:ldoxicnlly, ILl]lderstoocl their c~dtllre, httt theycotdd not colllprebellcl rni,le.

Apparetltly there had bee,? somereports of NeSroes beitlg Sltbjected tosome i,~dignities ill the host cotltltry,yet I,o OI,T, officially or other~vise, hadthe foresight to discuss this with mefearing, I sLIppose, some negative re-actio,> on my part. Actually, I found

rny:elf mllcb more nt ease ,vitb the,“dlgenoc,s people, established closefriendships with several, and preferredtheir cotnpa!~y to that of my peers.

In retrospect, 1 think a person of;I “mi,>ority” group can moke it in thehost country if he can ut~derstxlldth:xt the apparent hostility and tvon-dermer~t is based more often 01> curi.osity th:lll dislike or prejudice. It alsooccttrs to tne the Peace Corps shouldendeavor to assl,re that any person ofa “minority” group sholdd have atleast oIle “of his o\vn” with whom shcor he can communicate. I kno,v it

\\.ould ha~,e made a significant differ-ence for me.

WILLIA>I hfERCER JR.Former Volunteer

Baltimore

Bravo, Warwick!

To THE VOLUNTEER:

There’s nothing like bitting the ]lailon the head! Who did it? As far asSm concerned, Mal War\vick did inhis article, “To\<.ard a soci:d revohl-tion.” (October VOLUXTEZR).

His pointi,lg oltt ho~v social pro~ress starts \vith people changing theirattitudes \vas excellent. Recognitionof this should permeate Peace COTS.

The most important role for the\?ol””teer is ~~ a person \vho ~Eers

himself to the people to help facilitateattitude changes. This is an unsUuc-tt,,-ed role, b~,t it’s bkxsic. Witho~tt it,lothillc CXI>really take root. 1 feel it’san appro:ach ~vo~th e,l>phasis.

ERNEST Po\vEnAlfredo Chaves, Brazil

Host national writers

To .rHE 170LUXTEER:

The best article I have collle kxcrossi“ T*IS VOLUNTESI{ sia,ce rett!r”i,]gfr”m I13y Peace Corps totlr irl Bolivin\vas “In o~,r NcpaP by Dor BahadurBista (November VoLuNTEEn).

It \votdcl be xvell for TI%E VoLux-TEER to inchrde at ]eaSt one 31tiClCsuch as the one \x,ritten by b(r. Bistai,, each isstte by a qll~lificd natioa>alfrom ,1 differe,~t cot,,,try. ‘~he Vol,tn-teers \vouhl the!, kno\v ho\v tbeuefforts \vere ,,ie\ved by the people of

the coltntry instead of the vie\\,sfromWashington.

From my o\v,l experience 1 particu-larly conctir \\,ith h4r. Bista \,.hen hestates tbnt there sholdd .be n milli-Inltm nt,mber of Vollinteers i,~ ar>ygiver, t,rea. There ,vere o]dy 35 nleln-bers of Boli\,ia 1 \vh” ,,.ere spxead o~ltall over the cou)ltry ,,,ith ]l”t morethat, t\t,o or thee Volut~tcers in anyotle area. At the time .\ve left, t\~,oyears Inter, the fifth gro,lp had jtlstarrived a,jd \f,e colild see thenl be-gi,lrling to isolate tbemsel,,cs ia] groltps.

Vol”t~teers lose their rapport \vitllthe col~l,noll people ,.bell they dothis as the i,l-cu”,,try people thenclass the,n as a,>other A,]lerica,l grotnp—st,ch as the ]l>ilitary, religions a!ld dil>-h)rnatic-x.ho al\\z:L\,sseereeatc theln--.seh,es into close-kr~it grolq>s ;qlartfrvm the llntives

Dt,rirlg OLLCter,llitl;)tia~, i~l h~arcbof 19G4, \,,hich Jack ValIghII ~ttetlded,,,,e repeatedly suggested, that the best,,~ay tu keep the Peace Corps effective\\.asto keep the quality of the Vohln-teers high a,ld quntltity lob,. Whetbet-this. is bei,lg follo\t,ea or r>ot I ao l)otk,lo\v but, since L4r, Bista bril~gs IIpthis poir>t, I a<sume it is Ilot.

I also am r>ot familiar \vith thepresetlt ,nethod of recrllitn)e,~t em-ployea I]l,t 1 believe the Peace Corpscutlce,ltr:ttes Illostly otl eollegc rccrLlit-me,>t. 1 believe a groltp s~lch as ottrs,,vhosc mel~>bers ra,]ged from 18 to 65,is lnore effective. The olaer melnbersstabilize the grolq> ,Illa their experi-e)>ce is ir),,:duablc i]> a developingco Ltntry.

ELLA Don,ixPorn]er VOlutlteer

Kcr>t, Ohio

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